Chapter 25
Her fingers dug into his shoulder, hard pressure that matched the intensity of their kisses. There was no getting enough of her now, everything about her urged him closer, pulled him into her space. She wanted him, truly, finally, shifting his view, his core. Quinn Fabray was his and she reminded him of that fact with every dip of her tongue, every caress of her lips. Deliciously sweet, he never wanted to stop, kissing her for days, letting the world melt away.
"Oh no. No. No. No! You better back away from my son or I'm calling the cops."
"Mom? What are you doing here?" asked Sam stepping back from Quinn instinctively.
"I came to see my son. Do I need a reason?" she asked leaning in the doorway, in a fitted deep blue dress that matched the color of her eyes.
"I just wasn't expecting you." Beth placed her hand on Sam's cheek, cold and wet, soaked with drool, the final step in cooling his heated passion from moments before.
"Clearly. Have you lost your mind? You're kissing that tramp and your wife is right downstairs. You had the door wide open."
"It just sort of happened," he offered weakly.
"Do you think I believe that? You used that same excuse to explain how Beth was conceived. I'm so disappointed in you right now."
He felt like he was 15 getting caught with a girl in his room. No matter how old he got his mom still had this way of making him feel like a kid, usually that annoyed him but right now it was nice. He thought back to what Puck had told him about the breast cancer, how she was so close to death. Being scolded by his mother, even if were almost 30 was like music to his ears.
Sam could no longer contain his emotions, walking over to his mother and wrapping his arm around her, a nice hug, not as long as he would've liked because Beth was in his arms making it awkward, but it was good to have her close.
"What's all this about?" she asked hugging him back.
"Oh nothing. Just glad to see you. Are you feeling all right?"
"I'm fine sweetie, except for the bad taste in my mouth from being stuck in the same room with Quinn."
"Sue can't we at least be civil for Sam's sake."
"I am being civil. My first instinct was to grab you by the hair and toss you down the stairs."
"Mom please! You promised. She's Beth's mother."
"No she's Beth's incubator. Beth's mother is downstairs and all of us in this room know that."
Quinn took a small step back as if his mother's words had physically knocked her off balance. She quickly recovered her composure, but Sam had seen it. Quinn was hurt.
Keeping the peace was not something he was good at. He was more inclined to jump in and join the fray, blame it on his temper, but this was a volatile subject and he didn't have much choice but to play the diplomat.
"Mercedes has been very good with her I do agree, but she is not a replacement for Quinn."
"She's my baby Sue. There's nothing you can do to change that," Quinn said, holding her head high, even with her eyes shining with tears.
Sam couldn't help but smile a little, nothing had changed, Quinn was still standing up to his mother. It was nice to see she hadn't lost that last bit of spunk, despite all she had been through recently.
"I might not be able to change her biology but I definitely can keep you from destroying her life. You do know she's not supposed to be around the girl don't you Sam?"
"Yes I do. This was just a short visit, in the safety of our home. I'm sure no one here will alert the authorities about this." Sam feared no one in the house. All the staff knew better than to cross him or do anything disloyal to the family.
"Does Mercedes know Quinn's here?" asked Sue.
"Not exactly." After the way Mercedes had reacted to the photo him and Quinn, he wasn't looking forward to telling her this news.
"So you didn't take my advice and talk to her before going upstate? No wait," she said holding up her hand, displaying a huge diamond ring on her finger. "Don't answer that I'm staying out of it just as I told you I would."
"Thank you."
Good. He really didn't want to get into a discussion about communicating with his wife in front of Quinn. She might have been encouraging him to stay married for the sake of his father's deal, but he knew that his marital status bothered Quinn far more than she let on.
Sue flipped her blond hair and put her hand on her hip. "But I will say this…"
"Well that lasted all of two seconds," said Quinn under her breath.
"You are making some huge mistakes right now Sam. You can't play when it comes with Beth, the courts can take her from you too."
Sam looked down at his child in his arms, quietly sucking on her fist, and his chest tightened. He hadn't actually thought of that. He was so consumed by the happiness of having a baby, a child that was indisputably his, that he hadn't considered all the realities of the situation. With Quinn being stripped of her parental rights, Beth had no one but him to rely on. Well Beth had Mercedes too, but as far as biological parents went, he was currently it. Suddenly Sam felt the enormity of that position, and it made him more than a little uneasy. Not because he didn't want to be a dad, that was a role he definitely wanted, but because now his every move mattered, his every choice counted double. He wasn't just thinking for himself anymore, he was thinking for two now, and if he were completely honest, it was more like he was thinking for three. Mercedes was legally bound to him, his choices impacted her as well. Mercedes was his spouse, they both were responsible for Beth's care. What if someone reported Quinn to CPS for being here tonight? His mom was right, they all could lose Beth.
"I promise this won't happen again. It's by the books from now on. Right Quinn?" It had to be, he couldn't risk losing his child.
"Yes. I will follow all the rules," agreed Quinn with a nod of her head.
She looked anxious, far more jittery than she had had all night, maybe she was thinking the same things he was, that their actions had such huge consequences now. He grabbed her hand and squeezed, partly for her, but more so for himself. Life was feeling pretty heavy and he needed to know she was still with him, still by his side. If he had her, he could do anything. She looked over at him and smiled, her eyes saying so much. They didn't need words, he knew, she was with him, they were in this together. Always.
His mom seemed satisfied with their responses and let the matter drop. Another hurdle cleared, about a thousand more to go.
"Okay come to Grandma Sue little princess Beth," said Sue taking Beth from Sam. "And we'll go downstairs and have so much fun. Yes we will." Sue looked up and finally addressed them. "I'm going now, but you keep your hands off my son. You hear me."
"Mom!"
Sue turned to leave, but paused when she spotted something in the room. "Oh you're using the baby seat I gave her."
Sam turned to look at the chair. "Yep, Marcel said she really likes it."
"I'm glad it's getting used Mercedes keeps it here in the closet, ungrateful girl."
"I don't think it has anything to do with the gift Marcel said…"
"I don't need you to explain things to me," snapped Sue. "I'm a mother I know what it's like to be scared and overprotective. When you and Mike were little I used to sometimes make you both sleep in the bed with me, where I could watch you and make sure you were safe. Don't explain it to me, explain it to her." She pointed at Quinn. "She's the one that doesn't have a maternal bone in her body."
"And you're mother of the year?" Quinn's face flushed with anger. "You ruin your kids' lives always interfering."
Sue stepped closer to Quinn, her voice rising. "I am involved and present. I care, so I don't want to see them hurt, sometimes I step in to pull them out of harm's way. That's what parents do. But you wouldn't know anything about that, would you Quinn?"
"I know I'm not perfect, but I'm trying to get better."
"How? By breaking out of the mental hospital and mauling my son?" Sue snickered.
"Quinn didn't break out," Sam said finally speaking up. He had felt like he was at a tennis match, watching his mom and Quinn go at it, except instead of rackets they had flamethrowers. "I had her released."
"I take it you were apprised of her full history before you decided to bribe some judge for her freedom?"
"Her doctor agrees that she didn't need to be in that hospital."
"She needs to be in jail."
Tears were running down Quinn's face and Sam was having a hard time controlling his temper. He didn't want to yell at his mother, not after hearing he almost lost her to cancer, but she was coming after Quinn and he couldn't let that happen. Causing Quinn pain was crossing the line, hurting her was like hurting him. They were linked. It was time his mom realized that.
"For what? Drinking too much and being depressed?" asked Sam stepping in front of his mom so she couldn't see Quinn anymore. "Remember when I came back from Afghanistan and found out Brittany was gone?"
"Sam this is not the same."
"Yes it is. I lost myself for a while too, but your love and support helped to bring me back. That's all I'm trying to do for Quinn. Can't you see how much I care about her?"
Sue wiped at the tears that had started to fall. "Oh baby, that heart of yours always gets you into such trouble."
"You don't have to worry about me mom. Quinn and I have talked. We are on the same page about everything. I support her and she supports me. Be happy for us." He rubbed his mother's shoulder silently pleading with her to understand, for once to allow herself to see all the good in Quinn.
"You don't know, do you?" asked Sue.
"I don't know what?" Sam looked back at Quinn to see if she could offer any hints about what had his mother so upset. Quinn said nothing, just turned her head and stared off at some unknown object on the wall. Sam couldn't really blame her. He would've tried to avoid this conversation with his mother too if he could. "What don't I know mom?"
"You don't know the truth." She was crying in earnest now, her face wet from her tears. "That bitch abandoned your daughter."
"Sam, don't listen to her. Your mother hates me," said Quinn rushing to his side. She grabbed his arm, forcing him to look at her. Fear was all over her face, like a dark mask over her usually bright features, her lips trembled, and tears ran down her cheeks.
"Damn right I hate you," Sue hissed. "My grandchild could've died!"
In what seemed like an instant everything in the room grew murky, the air thick like sludge. Quinn and his mother faded into the background as the room shifted into someplace else. Then growing louder in the distance, like an echo down a long hall, he could hear his daughter crying, loud angry screams, cries for help swallowed by the darkness. Sam tried to move, to chase the screams into the dark, to save his little girl, but he was stuck, his feet plastered to the ground. He started to panic, his heart pounding a hole in his chest, rhythmic, a steady familiar beat, like a song he used to know.
Sam squeezed his eyes shut, hoping to end this waking dream and come back to his senses. Eyes closed, it all stopped. Gone were the screams and choking air, but in the distance that thumping beat remained. It sounded sort of like music.
What the hell was going on?